1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a soy sauce powder having a preferable soy sauce-derived flavor (hereinafter referred to as “soy sauce flavor”), which comprises simple operations in an advantageous manner in industrial practice.
2. Background Art
In general, soy sauce powders are produced by adding an excipient such as dextrin to soy sauce, dissolving dextrin therein, and subjecting the resultant to spray drying. However, preferable volatile components of soy sauce decrease during spray drying, resulting in the partial loss of soy sauce flavor, which is a drawback.
At present, the following known methods exist for overcoming the above drawback: a method for adding an aromatic substance having a brewed aroma with a strong aromatic trace to a soy sauce powder, comprising obtaining the aromatic substance by adding water to soy sauce oil, sufficiently agitating the resultant, separating an aqueous phase therefrom, mixing dextrin with the aqueous phase, and carrying out powderization via drying (see, for example, JP Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 51-6231 B (1976)); and a method for obtaining a soy sauce powder having an improved aroma, comprising distilling soy sauce oil with the use of water vapor, ethanol vapor, or the like by a general method, adding the appropriate amount of the obtained distillate (aromatic substance) to a soy sauce used as a starting material, adding dextrin thereto, mixing the resultant, and carrying out spray drying (see, for example, JP Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 50-18076 B (1975)). However, both methods require a step of preparing an aromatic substance. This might result in the partial loss of soy sauce flavor during spray drying, which is problematic.